Echos, Silence, Patience and Grace
by Sakura123
Summary: Five Times Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson-Parker's honeymoon plans failed and the one time it didn't, but technically did. A "Tales of Spider-Men" story.


**Echo's, Silence, Patience and Grace**

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**Author:** Sakura123 (weber_dubois22)

**Genre:** General/Friendship/Adventure

**Rating: T**

**Category: Spider-Man Multiverse (animated)**

**Written:** 7/14/2012

**Finished:** 8/17/2012

**Characters:** Peter Parker; Mary Jane Watson

**Summary:** Five Times Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson-Parker's honeymoon plans failed and the one time it didn't, but technically did. A "Tales of Spider-Men" story.

**Disclaimer:**_ Spider-Man_, and all things related to the franchise, is property of MARVEL COMICS, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and the Walt Disney corp.

**Authors Note:** This is the second to last story in the "Tales of Spider-Men" series that I created, unless I feel like extending it from three to for or more shorties. Again its focused on Spider-Man: The Animated Series and the most controversial episode in any Spider-Man cartoon, "The Return of Hydro-Man".

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**1. (Indecision)**

It started with plans, which were simple enough. Planning for the perfect honeymoon trip wasn't going to be too complicated unless you couldn't absolutely agree to one place. They avoided Hawaii - "It's old hat, tiger," - a favorite suggestion of almost everyone they knew; London was too high on the list of things Pater Parker couldn't afford with his freelance salary and Mary Jane's budding (or struggling, depending on the time of week) acting and modeling career. They still had to pay for the apartment and that pretty much ruled out any chances of traveling anywhere or in anything besides the city or in the rust bucket Jamison gave them.

"What about D.C.? I hear they've got nice places for honeymooners," Peter suggested, hanging upside down the ceiling of the living room. "Maybe, but I'd like go someplace outta state, someplace from the city, like Canada or the Niagara Falls," Mary Jane replied, casting her gaze up at him.

Peter jumped down from the ceiling and landed gracefully onto the top of the couch. "That's still pretty close to states, technically speaking," Peter remarked dryly.

"New York State, anyway," Mary Jane smiled. "C'mon, tiger, what's the harm in splurging a little?"

"Well, the rent and car insurance for one instance."

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**2. (Commitments)**

So their plans for planning for a honeymoon were postponed by the unfortunate truth that sent Peter through the windows of their apartment at every hour of the day, seven days a week. Crime, school and fame. Between their respective studies at ESU, Peter's crime fighting and Mary Jane's modeling or acting gigs, the two hardly saw each other when it wasn't in bed.

Peter often came home in an existential funk, contemplating how much of what he did was worth the longtime effort of being Spider-Man, or too tired to humor Mary Jane when she had a good day, no matter how hard he tried. He'd fall asleep in the middle of the good news, drool slipping down the corner of his mouth if he wasn't lying against her shoulder or her lap. If Mary got a gig, she was busy when Peter wasn't and made his good days reasonably bleak. At this point in their lives they were still revolving objects through doors that kept them separated, it was hard to believe they were even married when they didn't fiddle with the wedding bands on their fingers.

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**3. (Bruises)**

_The Terror from Below!_ If only life was simple as vanquishing an actor in a bad monster costume and rescuing the damsel. Peter stared up at the supersized poster with his one good eye and watched as his honeymoon dreams were dashed underfoot by the Styrofoam feet of the insidious Lobster Man. Mary Jane Watson-Parker had seemingly hit the big time with a major b-movie as a scream queen in fear for her life when some creature from below rises from the sleepy waters of a small town beach to terrorize its youthful denizens.

He hadn't seen MJ in weeks, and all he could think about was making up for his absences with a nice surprise trip with his recently earned bonus for capturing unattainable shots of Spider-Man fighting the Sandman. Careful not to touch his face, Peter pulled his messenger bag's strap over his head and allowed it rest on his other shoulder. Stepping underneath the shelter of the studio's shade he made a reach for the pay phone in front of him.

Dropping a couple quarters into the slot, he started to dial the number for Doc Connor's office. If Mary Jane was going to be busy, he might as well take up the offer from Connors. _Hope he's still there._ He waited for several minutes, paying no mind the redheaded beauty that stepped out of the building, umbrella at the ready. There was a click on the other line followed by a relatively cheery, "Hello, Kurt Connors speaking."

"Doc, it's Peter, I was wondering if you still-"

"Tiger, is that you?" Peter nearly did a complete 360 in response to the sound of Mary Jane's voice. "Mary Jane, I-uh-" His sentence was stopped short by the sudden blaring of his spider-sense, which was ringing in his head like crazy. What followed afterward were a succession of explosions off in the distance and the all too familiar cackle of a super villain with too much time on his hands if he was antagonizing the city once again.

Mary Jane stared at the swollen and bruised side of her husband's face in aghast. "Oh my goodness, Peter, what happened to your face?"

"Peter, are you still there—?"

"Uh, I gotta go, something's burning in the oven," He hung up and ran past Mary Jane. "See you at home, MJ, I'll explain everything then!" He called over his shoulder. "Peter!" Mary Jane watched in disappointment as Peter Parker vanished into an alleyway and Spider-Man emerged the next second, swinging headlong into danger.

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**4. (Traffic)**

"I can't believe this happening,"

"Neither can I. We were so close!"

"I- does the world just hate me or something? Is there a clause in the contract of the universe that says 'Peter Parker-"

"And Mary Jane Watson-Parker-"

"-Must never be allowed to experience one second of their honeymoon?!'" Peter honked the horn of the van out of frustration and received a dozen other honks in kind and even a few colorful phrases that made him want to web the perpetrator's mouths shut. Leaning back in the driver's chair, Peter folded his arms and closed his eyes. Mary Jane huffed, blowing her bangs out of her face. "So much for driving outta town, huh?"

"I'm really, really sorry about this Mary Jane," Peter apologized. "I thought for sure we could be the traffic." Mary Jane shrugged her shoulders, pulling her jacket free from her arms. "It's alright, Peter," She smiled, leaning to the right and thus closer to him. "If any good has come from this, it's that we've both been in one place for longer than a minute."

"Alright, you got me there," He agreed. "But what are we going to do in the meantime?"

"I could think of a few things, tiger," Mary Jane smiled, fingers stroking his arm.

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**5. (Ailment)**

Mary Jane's nightmares were getting worse as the nights grew shorter and the days longer. Nothing she did seemed to get rid of them; the earlier she went to bed, the longer the dreams became, the later she stayed up the worse they became. Sleeping pills did nothing to lull her into the famous "dreamless sleep", just keep her trapped long enough to repeat the experience.

Exercise, yoga, thinking pretty thoughts, none of them kept the dreams at bay. Water, clowns and cakes were her worst enemy. She didn't want to go anywhere near the water, she drank less of it for a time before her headaches started to worsen and her body craved it like she suffered from withdrawal. Light sensitive and cranky, Mary Jane found she couldn't leave the apartment she was so starved for sleep. With Liz preoccupied with Harry, there was almost no one to talk to besides Aunt Anna if Peter wasn't around. She wasn't the warmest company, especially since she believed her niece's suffering was all a result of a marriage to a "dunderheaded man" who was no good for her surrogate daughter.

She couldn't blame Peter for any of this, or anything that had happened to her. Not when the voice haunting her was Morrie Bench, a man she wished her aunt had seen through as quickly as she persecuted Peter.

"Mary Jane?" The light of the moon illuminated the bedroom, causing her flinch and retreat under the covers. After a moment she peeked out from covers and found Peter sitting on the window sill, his body blocking out the light. His mask sat atop his head, his expression was creased with worry. "I got back as soon as I could," He raised his obscured hand to reveal a small box of pain killers. "I even brought something for your headaches."

Mary managed a weary smile for her husband, reaching out she grasped his hand and pulled. Peter flopped down onto the bed, reaching over he closed the window and dropped the blinds.

He extended his body so that he was lying next to her; Mary Jane wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his chest. "I'm just glad you're here," She whispered. Peter returned the show of affection, kissing her forehead. "I'll always be there for you, MJ."

* * *

**1. (Vacation)**

For once Mary Jane had been the first one up before the crack of dawn. She shook Peter roughly from his sleep, leaving the weary superhero little to no time to collect his scattered thoughts. She pressed a kiss to his lips and pulled his night shirt from over his head. "MJ, what are you doin'?!" He complained, feeling the soreness in his muscles begin to flare up. "Getting you dressed, we're getting out of here before the city wakes up," She declared.

"But the city never sleeps," Peter retorted unable to come up with anything snappier. Whenever he tried to lie back down, Mary Jane was always there to pull him upright, give his cheeks a pinch and march him toward the bathroom. Reluctant and more than a bit cranky, he did what she wanted him to all the while making a list of superheroes who didn't have to deal with being pulled out of bed by their girlfriends. Once he was clean, though barely refreshed, he jumped into his uniform, slipped into his usual dress clothes and dragged himself toward the kitchen. Mary Jane allowed him to eat some cereal before dragging him away from the table ordered his shoes on. "If you don't hurry up, we'll miss our chance!"

"Chance, wh-what chance? Mary Jane, what is going on?" He cried, slipping halfway into his sneakers. Mary Jane tossed him his jacket, half way into her own. "We're getting outta town, Mr. Parker. We're going to enjoy our honeymoon at long last!"

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**1.1 (Peter)**

Their lives were perfect for one single moment before everything was dashed by Morrie Bench, of all people. If there was anyone Peter ever expected to be haunted by it was Normal Osborne, Venom maybe, but never Morrie Bench. He was supposed to be dead, vaporized atop a roof and apart of the great cycle of water life.

Instead, he was being pummeled by the undead and searching high and low for his wife, spirited away by her obsessive ex. Why did these always happen to him and him alone? What good did it do to drag him through the mud and snatch his happiness from him when he's done nothing but help people?

Mary Jane was resourceful enough; he didn't have to worry about her too much if her performance with Bench the last time was anything to go by. The added element of Black Cat sent his mind on a downward spiral that played merry havoc with his mind. But Mary Jane's safety kept him centered, focused; Cat, as much there was still an inkling of affection for her, he couldn't stray now.

Par for the course, when he arrived, he did all he could to fight against Morrie until he was pinned underneath steeled debris. Hydro-Man was ready to turn him into spider-soup when, out of nowhere, a full blast of water appeared from Mary Jane's direction.

Peter saw it, but he couldn't believe it. Mary Jane had literally become water before his very eyes and pummeled Morrie on a level he could never achieve with all his smarts and muscle combined. The scariest part was she didn't know how she did it. "I just reacted. I had to- he was going to hurt you and I just snapped. It just happened," She looked at him, pleading that he wouldn't treat her any differently than he had before. He hoped that she knew that it didn't matter how strange she had become, so long as she was safe. Gathering her in his arms, he pressed a masked kiss to her damp hair. "It's alright Mary Jane, we'll figure this out," He promised her. _I hope._

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**1.2. (Mary Jane)**

A clone, a copy made from her and the same DNA of the one man she wanted nothing to do with. Everything she felt and remembered was torn asunder, reduced the simplest of terms and scientific fancies and all before the man she loved. The giant eye of her dream was her God, her creator. She was a project with the memories and the life of another woman, one who loved Peter Parker.

No matter how many times she turned the truth around in her head, twisted it until it suited her purposes, she wasn't the real Mary Jane. Her creator, her father, he barely seemed bothered by the fact that she would die. No, if anything, he was more disappointed in the effort that went into her and Morrie's creation would evaporate into nothing, leaving him to start over from scratch.

As Morrie vanished before her eyes, she felt her own body coming apart at the seams. Her knees gave out, she fell to the floor with a wet flop, and her body began to pool out around her.

This was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Instead it was her funeral.

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**FIN.**


End file.
